Not To Scare You, But The World May Soon Run Out Of Chocolate

Experts have predicted that it could actually become EXTINCT in the next 30 years, due to global warming.

The cacao tree – on which cocoa beans are grown – can only survive in humid rainforest conditions. This plant is now in danger, as rising temperatures are sucking moisture from the soils where they grow.

Worryingly, scientists don’t think rainfall will be enough to make up for the loss, and believe it’ll be impossible to grow by 2050.

The Ivory Coast and Ghana – where more than 50% of the world’s cocoa is produced – may be forced to decide whether to move production onto higher ground, but this could cause problems for the surrounding ecosystems.

There will also be competition among farmers for space.

And this isn’t the only thing that could lead to the end of Easter eggs and Cadbury advent calendars. Last year, it was predicted that there soon won’t be enough chocolate to meet our demand.

Because apparently, the average westerner eats 286 bars every year. Crikey.

Doug Hawkins – of Hardman Agribusiness – tells MailOnline: ‘Unlike other tree crops that have benefited from the development of modern, high yielding cultivars and crop management techniques to realise their genetic potential, more than 90% of the global cocoa crop is produced by smallholders on subsistence farms with unimproved planting material.

‘All the indicators are that we could be looking at a chocolate deficit of 100,000 tonnes a year in the next few years.’